Money In The Bank 2021: Talking About The Hits And Misses

It’s time to talk about Money In The Bank, 2021 style. And to do that, we will be talking about the hits and misses from our first sold out PPV of 2021.

Yes, WrestleMania had fans, but limited by certain restrictions.

No such restrictions were in place for the 2021 edition of Money In The Bank. With WWE back on the road, kicking things off this past Friday via SmackDown…it’s a new world.

Talking about the hits and misses from this show should be pretty easy. I mean, it’s Money In The Bank, so right away we should have two amazing ladder matches.

There are a handful of title matches too. Roman Reigns and Edge is the main event, giving Edge his long-awaited one on one match for the title.

Bobby Lashley, now sans his entourage, takes on Kofi Kingston as well. That match has some historic significance, but feels like a filler.

We’ve got a couple tag title matches, plus the RAW Women’s Championship on the line as well.

It’s going to be a busy Money In The Bank, and we’ve been waiting a  long time for it.

So, without any further delay…

Money In The Bank 2021: Talking About The Hits And Misses

Right away, let’s get the bad stuff out of the way.

The Misses

Have to start with the bad.

And, if we are talking about the bad, there is but one choice for the top spot.

Peacock. If you are in one of the sections of the world that has to watch WWE PPV via Peacock, then odds are you had a decent portion of your experience ruined.

Or, if you are tolerant, maybe not ruined. But, it certainly wasn’t great.

For me, the glitching started just prior to the men’s Money In The Bank ladder match. I switched devices, killed the app numerous times, did plenty of tricks.

Finally got stable with probably the last ten minutes of the match to go, if that.

A lack of surprises. This doesn’t really shock me, but it was a bit of a bummer.

Leading up to the return to the road, we’ve been hearing plenty about impending returns, and WWE pulling out all the stops.

But here’s the thing…even though SmackDown was the big return, you knew none of the major names were coming back Friday.

Just because, the already-hyped PPV was Sunday, and any massive returns  would have been badly timed.

Still, we had heard that Becky Lynch was going to be at the show. Technically, she was-I am sure she traveled in support of Seth Rollins, and she’s probably showing up this week.

She even confirmed she was there, via her own social media. Just…not on the PPV.

I am not annoyed that we didn’t have a couple big surprises, because I get it. The PPV, when compared to the return to the road, was in an odd spot.

Though…there was ONE big surprise…

source: custom, WWE Twitter screenshot

Plus, most fans were likely just happy to have a show to attend. We could have been given matches featuring Brooklyn Brawler and The Goon and it may not have been the worst ever.

Because, you know…fans are back.

So…that is it for the misses. What about the good stuff?

The Hits!

It is going to be a lot of fun talking about the hits, I promise!

WWE shows are back in front of packed houses! We got it Friday and again with Money In The Bank.

The schedule is full, or filling up…and even though we’ve watched WWE shows for 18 months without real live fans or crowded arenas…things feel so much different now.

source: custom, WWE Twitter screenshot

The fans! I called this out on the Friday Nutshell too…but the fans were missed.

I mean, the chants were great (main event, dueling “Let’s go Roman” versus “Let’s go Edge” chants?!).

source: custom, WWE Twitter screenshot

It was so nice to no longer hear spots get called out, or announcers in the replays, or piped in crowd noise.

The ladder matches. Some Money In The Bank matches are better than others.

I am no MITB historian, so I am not even going to attempt to rank the 2021 editions against the rest.

One point I will make, however, is that these two were much better than 2020. It was nice to get back to “normal”.

The women’s match got creative with a number of spots. It felt fresh, and we had some fresh faces too.

One of those fresh faces actually won it. Nikki A.S.H was a surprise winner, and I liked how they set up that briefcase grab.

source: custom, WWE Twitter screenshot

I am very curious to see how that unfolds though. Part of me is afraid of a couple scenarios with Nikki.

Will she be the first to have a failed cash-in? The announcers made sure to call out that every woman’s winner has successfully cashed in.

Or, will she be the 2021 edition of Otis, more a joke than anything else…and perhaps we see her end up losing the briefcase to someone else?

On the men’s side, however, I have to flat out say…I love this move. I remember hearing that Big E was in consideration for a major push into WrestleMania…but it didn’t come.

Now, it appears that we should finally see a Big E major push…and I am on board with it.

The last hit? Once Roman Reigns grabbed for the mic post-match, it was confirmed.

source: custom, WWE Twitter screenshot

Then the music hit, and it was undeniable.

John Cena returned, and what a pop.

??? ?@JohnCena is BACK!!! ? #MITB pic.twitter.com/QsXF8OxDr2

— WWE (@WWE) July 19, 2021

Overall, I can’t complain much about this show, if at all really.

Happy to have things happening in front of a packed house.